Even before the bill formerly known as the “Cut Cut Cut Act” was passed, critics warned it would sharply increase the deficit in order to give corporate America and the ultra-wealthy a tax break they didn’t need. But last week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office revealed just how big a blow Donald Trump’s tax “reform” will land, and the numbers were more than a little alarming. According to the C.B.O.’s report, the deficit will top $1 trillion a year in perpetuity beginning in 2020, with the national debt soaring past $33 trillion by 2028, a situation that will have “serious negative consequences for the budget and the nation,” including, potentially, a fiscal crisis. What’s more, as predicted, most of the blame lies with last year’s tax legislation, the growth from which, the report notes, will “not come close” to making up for the damage done by the cuts.

Luckily, one of the key people we’d be forced to rely on should another financial crisis befall the U.S. is not at all concerned about the situation, and is instead sticking to his preferred talking points. “We’re now at a point where we’re comfortably within our 3 percent-or-higher sustained economic growth,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchintold CNBC this morning when asked about the impending economic apocalypse. “The difference between 2.2 and 3 percent will pay for the tax cuts,” he continued. “We’re seeing very strong economic growth. We literally have met with hundreds of executives, small companies, big companies, and thousands of workers. We’re beginning to see the impact of the tax cuts, specifically people investing large amounts of money back into the United States.”

Companies will totally spend their massive windfalls on investments and workers, and the tax cuts will pay for themselves, are, of course, two of Mnuchin’s favorite claims, neither of which has any basis in reality. Back in December, with the Treasury’s inspector general breathing down his neck re: the report he’d been promising for months showing the tax plan wouldn’t blow a hole in the deficit, the secretary produced a one-page document Larry Summerscalled “a pathetic excuse for a study,” claiming, based on an assumption he pulled out of thin air, that the tax cuts would pay for themselves and then some. As for all that investment he claims is happening? If by investment he means stock buybacks, then sure, the tax plan has resulted in major investment:

In related news, when asked about the president’s fact-free tweet on Monday that China and Russia are manipulating their currencies to give their companies an unfair advantage when it comes to exports, Mnuchin had this to say: “It was a warning shot at China and Russia about devaluation. China has devalued their currency in the past. They’ve used a lot of their reserves to actually support the currency. The president wants to make sure they don’t change their plans, and he’s watching it.” Did you get that? It wasn’t a lie—just a warning shot. (Based on a lie.)